Dollar Up, Remains Near Almost-Ten Month Highs Due to Risk Aversion

© Reuters.

By Gina Lee

AiVIF.com – The dollar was up on Friday morning in Asia, remaining near a nine-and-a-half month high, as persistent COVID-19 concerns continued to give the safe-haven asset a boost.

The U.S. Dollar Index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies inched up 0.01% to 93.602 by 10:33 PM ET (10:33 AM GMT).

The USD/JPY pair inched up 0.01% to 109.73.

The AUD/USD pair edged down 0.17% to 0.7134 and the NZD/USD pair was down 0.29% to 0.6882.

The USD/CNY pair edged up 0.14% to 6.5032. The People’s Bank of China released its latest loan prime rate (LPR) earlier in the day, with the one-year LPR remaining unchanged at 3.85% and the five-year LPR at 4.65%.

The GBP/USD pair inched down 0.10% to 1.3624.

The minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s latest meeting, which hinted that asset tapering could start as soon as 2021, also continued to give the U.S. currency a boost. Investors will now look ahead to the Fed’s Jackson Hole symposium, taking place from Aug. 26 to 28, for more clues to an asset tapering and interest rate hike timetable.

However, COVID-19 and its Delta strain continue their relentless upward tick, with the U.S. reporting the most deaths since February 2021.

Riskier currencies also suffered losses, with the Australian and New Zealand dollars remaining near nine-month lows.

"Risk aversion in the air has buoyed the greenback, with pro-growth currencies bearing the brunt of it," National Australia Bank (OTC:NABZY) strategist Rodrigo Catril said in a note.

The Australian dollar has fallen 3% so far during the week and was on track for its worst performance since September 2020 as much of the country remains under lockdown to curb the latest COVID-19 outbreak.

Across the Tasman Sea, the New Zealand dollar has sunk 2.9% for the week, also its lowest level since September 2020, as the Reserve Bank of New Zealand delayed hiking its interest rate as it handed down its policy decision earlier in the week. The country remains under lockdown as it deals with its own COVID-19 outbreak.